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Also, how do I know that I have come to a logical conclusion in a RC if I do not acknowledge whether or not I am dreaming? For example, what I have been doing in the past is, after finishing a RC I would say to myself "OK because I understand where I am, how I got here, what I'm doing, etc., and because the RCs did this, I must not be dreaming". If I should not acknowledge that I am not dreaming, how do I prove to myself that I have collected enough evidence one way or another to finish the RC? And does this mean that I should not acknowledge that the specific reality tests I performed failed?
It depends I suppose on the particulars of your RC(s). With nose pinch in a dream, it is so obvious to me the particular feeling I get, like my internal breathing apparatus is disconnected from my physical body. Also note that you may get lucid without ever doing RCs. RCs are helpful to cement budding lucidity in a dream, but sometimes you just get lucid without needing to do a RC. This comes from building familiarity with the dream state as compared to the waking, and something in your internal "spidey sense" just tells you that this is the dream state.